listed species are those with: 1) 5 or fewer extant sites, or 2) fewer than 1,000 individuals, or 3) restricted to fewer than 4 U.S.G.S. 7 ½ minute topographical maps, or 4) species listed as endangered by U.S. Department of Interior.

Federal Protection:
Not Listed

State Rarity Rank:S1

A State Rarity Rank of S1 means: This plant is endangered/critically imperiled in New York because of extreme rarity (typically 5 or fewer populations or very few remaining individuals) or is extremely vulnerable to extirpation from New York due to biological factors.

Global Rarity Rank:G5T5

A Global Rarity Rank of G5T5 means: Secure globally - Both the species as a whole and the subspecies/variety are common in the world; widespread and abundant (but may be rare in some parts of its range).

Did you know?
This grass was formally put in the genus Diplachne (as Diplachne maritima, first described from Nantucket [Bicknell 1968]) but it was shown that the fruit characters that separated it from Leptochloa were not consistent (Snow 1998). The common name sprangletop comes from the word sprangle, meaning going in all directions, and refers to the orientation of the flowering branches in this genus.

There are six existing populations but only one of them is large, with over 10,000 plants. Thirteen populations were documented from the late 1800s to the mid-1960s but three of these no longer exist because their habitat has been destroyed. The others still need to be resurveyed to see if they exist.